Default mode is taking the easy way out, the path of least resistance, accepting the status quo without question or meaningful demur. People tend to stay in default mode because it takes less energy, because they have an aversion to discomfort or dislike uncertainty or fear the unknown.

Yet Default Mode is a slow but surefire route to mediocrity and discontent. One day you will wake up and find that life and others have passed you by and that your mind, spirit, and body have grown weak and flabby. Life demands change to survive and prosper. If you want a life of relative ease, change before you have to; self-regulated gradual change will be much more pleasant than the sort of abrupt change life demands when we fail to prepare.

Closing quotes:

“We either live with intention or exist by default.” – Kristin Armstrong, 3x Olympic gold medalist, biking

“The greatest risk of all is to attempt to avoid all risk.” – Truism

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.” – J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter author

“The tragedy of life is not found in failure but complacency. Not in you doing too much, but doing too little. Not in you living above your means, but below your capacity. It’s not failure but aiming too low, that is life’s greatest tragedy.” – Benjamin E. Mays, 1894-1984, Civil Rights Activist

As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier